CBS All Access confirms Twilight Zone revival

No surprises here, CBS All Access has confirmed a new series of The Twilight Zone.

In this age of sci-fi-skewing anthology series (Dark Mirror, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams), the classic series was ripe for reviving. CBS All Access has also enjoyed a hit with Star Trek: Discovery.

Jordan Peele (Get Out, Key & Peele) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men) will executive produce with Marco Ramirez (Marvel’s The Defenders) to write the script and serve as showrunner. An episode count has not been revealed.

“Too many times this year it’s felt we were living in a twilight zone, and I can’t think of a better moment to reintroduce it to modern audiences,” said Peele.

Kinberg added, “The Twilight Zone was a touchstone in my life. The opportunity to continue its lineage is a dream come true, and I’m so thrilled to be doing it with Jordan, Marco and the team at CBS All Access.”

CBS has made overtures about launching CBS All Access in Australia, as part of its acquisition of TEN. While current titles are mostly sewn up with other platforms, new titles would form part of its appeal.

“The original The Twilight Zone bridged science fiction, horror and fantasy together to explore human nature and provide social commentary in a way that audiences had never seen before,” said Julie McNamara, exec vic president of originals at CBS All Access. “Under the auspices of Jordan Peele, Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez, and with the creative freedom that the CBS All Access platform affords, this is an incredible opportunity to bring today’s audiences a modern reimagining of this iconic series.”

It’s not the first time a reboot has been attempted. There were already two revivals, in 1985 and 2002, while plans for another in 2012 with director Bryan Singer did not eventuate.

Rod Serling (pictured) created the original series that ran for five seasons from 1959-1964 while a film was released in 1983 with tales directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and Aussie George Miller.

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One Comment:

The Twilight Zone was a product of its time and as a fair percentage of prospective viewers would not have been born when the show first broadcast the scriptwriters could re-imagine nearly all 156 episodes made at the time, so creating stories should not be a problem.